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m<t< <•■  <t ^<iii.i^iifcAi.*  ''''^^^^^^^^^^^'^■^-^'''•***-**' 


A  DISCO  IIESE 


<)  N' 


FAMILY    l)lSCirL[NE, 


DKLIVKRKI)    IJK^OllK    k 


TKACHKR-'S  INSTITl'Tir'    IIV    CONCORD,    ^lASS., 


ii 


XS\)   TN^~ 


ST.  .ioHN*»s  cm  ucir,  san  fr aacisco. 


\',Y    THK    IIKV.  OKANCn'l_CI>jVKlC,  P.  I)., 


\NIJ    I'lMn.ISHKI)   15V    AN'      AS^OCl ATK) V    OP 


MOTHERS  IN  ISRAEL." 


KOVAI,   1'    LOCKK,    HOOK    AN'O   .K>H    VMSTVR    IK    IIATIIJIT   ^■^KI■■K'^, 

SAN     FRANCISCO: 

1860, 


-r-;-^r— r-^, -%., 


y.ffTTVflHHUfffyywV'TM'MIIIMlyf'  Ti»TtT  ii;  "tWfill'j  l,f'il  f"f" 


itm^' 


A  DISCOURSE 


ON 


FAMILY    DISCIPLINE, 

BY  THE   REY.  ORANGE   CLARK,  D.  D. 

:-o-: 

TEXT. 

Proverbs  xxiii.  13,  14, — "  Withhold  not  correction  from  the 
Child  :  for  if  thou  hnttst  him  uith  the  red  he  i  hall  not  die.  Tkoii 
shalt  beat  him  with  the  rod,  and  shalt  deliver  his  soid  from  hell  J' 

These  are  the  words  of  the  Orauiscient  God — an  imperative 
precept  ;  no  less  imperative  than  the  precept  "  Thou  shalt  not 
kill" — or  the  precept"  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ" — "  Do 
this  in  remembrance  of  me" — "  Be  courteous" — and  while  we 
dwell  upon  them,  let  them  be  regarded  as  God's  words  ;  very 
plain  and  very  imperative.  Founded  on  this  text,  on  the  present 
occasion,  I  shall  do  little  more  than  declare  the  result  of  my 
own  experience  and  observation  in  the  department  of  public  ed- 
ucation and  the  discipline  of  children  during  more  than  thirty 
years  of  service.  In  tliat  long  period,  not  to  have  acquired 
some  knowledge  of  the  science  of  discipline,  one  must  be  a  very 
dull  scholar. 

In  the  recent  discussions  relative  to  school  discipline,  it 
is  not  uncommon  to  find  many  and  conflicting  opinions  and 
much  controversy  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  rod  in  school  and 
corporial  punishment;  and  the  precepts  of  Ueaven,  through 
the  inspired  "  wise  man"  are  often  adduced  relative  to  applying 
or  sparing  the  rod.  "We  venture  to  assume  the  position  tliat 
all  this  is  entirely  irrelevant.  Heaven  has  noAvhere  recorded 
any  precept  in  relation  to  the  discipline  of  children  intended 


to  afford  instruction  to  any  but  parents,  and  that  too  for  the 
obvious  reason,  that  if  the  divine  precept  be  Avell  obeyed  in 
the  family  by  parents,  all  necessity  for  any  riiror  or  severity  in 
school-g-overnment   is  obviated  ;  and  if  the  Divine  precepts, 
touching  this  matter,  be  not  obeyed  by  parents,  in  the  family' 
the  die  is  cast  ;  the  evil  can  never  be  remedied  anywhere.    Of- 
ten children  go  out  from  under  the  eye  of  their  parents  earlier 
than  three  years  old  ;  and  if  the  child  be  not  taught  subordina- 
tion to  the  parent,  or  to  some  one  acting  in  that  holy  and  re- 
sponsible capacity,  before  three  years  old,  he  can   never  be 
taught  it ;  he  will  never  thoroughly   learn   it,  except  upon 
the  scaffold,  at   the   hand   of  the  executioner.     There  is   no 
degree  of  chastisement  which  can  make  amends  for  a  parent's 
want  of  fidelity,  for  his  neglect  to  establish  his  own  aiithority, 
when  God  and  nature  placed  it  in  his  easy  power  and  com- 
manded him  to  do  so.     The  veiy  small  infant  early  learns  the 
tone  and  look  of  a  parent's  caress  ;  and  it  needs  but  few  days 
more  maturity  to  enable  that  infant  fully  to  learn  and  under- 
stand the  tone  and  look  of  parental  authority  and  reproof;  and 
then  is  the  time  if  ever  to  establish  that  subordination  which 
will  most  effectually  render  both  parent  and  child  happy.      I 
speak   advisedly,  fully  aware  how  strange  and  unpopular  the 
position  I  assume  and  the  doctrine  I  advocate  ;  but   equally 
convinced  of  its  truth,  I  cannot,  on  such  an  occasion  as  this, 
withhold  it,  "  whether  men  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  for- 
bear." More  than  once  have  we  seen  this  position  demonstrated; 
and  where  the  work  was  thoroughly  done,  the  child  grew  up 
a  most  happy  and  amiable  youth  ;  a  blessing  to  the  parent,  ven- 
erated and  beloved — the  ornament  of  the  schoolroom,  a  favor- 
ite among  his  companions,  and  and  most  of  all,  a  blessing  to 
himself.      Life  to  such  a  child  is  never  a  burden.  He  knows  no 
law  but  a  parents  wishes — at  least  a  parent's  will  to  him  is  par- 
amount and  cheerfulness  and  happy  industry  crown  his  days. 
Having  thus  declared  my  position,  I  shall  preceed  to  enforce, 
so  far  as  time  and  my  abilities  enable  me,  the  duty  of  family 
government ;  and  I  offer  my  feeble  aid,  because  I  am  persuaded 
that  this  well  established,  we  shall  hear  no  more  complaint  of 


L-54 
] 
-^  5 

msubordination  in  onr  common  schools,  and  the  labor  now  ex- 
pended in  discussing  the  question,  whether  and  how  much  the 
rod  should  there  be  used,  may  all  be  spared. 

I  stand  before  a  congTCg-ation  of  Christians,  with  whom  the 
word  of  God  must  be  of  paramount  authority.  If,  in  the  Word 
of  God  there  be  a  practical  duty  explicit  and  explicitly  de- 
clared, it  is  the  duty  o^  family  discipline.  Painfully  affecting  is 
the  case  of  Eli  and  his  sons,  recorded  for  our  edification.  We 
may  profitably  often  read  it  over,  reflect  and  dwell  upon  it. 
At  the  present  day,  I  fear  there  are  many  Eli's  in  our  land, 
who  are  destined  to  quaff  his  cup  of  sorrows  . 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  civilians  in  our  land,  but  lately 
summoned  before  the  Omniscient  tribunal  of  eternal  doom,there 
to  meet  an  injured  son.  whose  wayward,  headstrong  and  self- 
willed  career  was  terminated  on  the  scaffold  where,  as  I  have 
said  already,  where  alone  can  ever  be  learned  that  lesson  of 
subordination,  unless  it  be  instilled   in   infancy,  7?iay  perhaps 
to  recognize  in  Eli  of  olden  time  a  fellow  sinner,  a  fellow  sufferer 
^  of  eternal,   unavailing  regrets,   remorse  and   sorrow.      That 
>r  youth — I  knew  him  in  his  early  childhood  ;  born  with  endow- 
2  ments  second  to  few  if  any  in  the  land,  from  a  mother,  tender 
E2  and  affectionate  and  lovely — even  the  loveliest  of  her  sex,  but 
SE  born  and  bred  too  tenderlv  to  endure  even  the  breeze  of  a  sum- 
^  mer  s   evening   and   therefore  necessarily^  iuefiicient,  mentally 
and  physically — and  a  father  of  talents  and  endowments  greater 
than  almost  any  other,  and  therefore  always  immersed  among 
professional  cares  and   weighed  down  beneath  a  nation's  re- 
sponsibilities, which  made  him  almost  a  stranger  in  his  familv, 
and  entirely   a  stranger  in  the  nursery  where  duty  implored 
his  frequent  presence — Ill-fated  youth — but  I  forbear.    Parenls 
you  know   his  history  ;   you   know   his  tragical  end.       It  is 
but  one   of  many.      At  the  present  day  and  in  every  age,  I 
fear,  I  know,  there  are  many  Eli's  destined  to  quaff*  his  cup  of 
sorrows  to  the  very  dregs.     In  the  case  of  that  venerable  but 
wretched  father,  God  saw  fit  to  demonstrate  to  us  and  to  all 
the  world  forever,  the  light  in  which  he  regards  the  sin  of  pa- 
rents who  neglect  the  early  discipline  of  thea-  children.     Eli's 

.'57061 ;? 


o 


6 

wayward  sons  "  made  thcmsch-es  vile  and  he  restrained  them 
not"— and  the  penalty  inQicted  freezes  the  very  soul  to  think 
upon  it.  If  it  cannot  find  access  to  our  hearts  througli  that 
most  accessible  of  all  mediums,  paternal  and  maternal  love,  we 
may  well  conclude  that  we  are  sadly  lost  to  piety  towards  our 
great  Father  in  Heaven. 

"  In  that  day,"  saith  God,  "I  will  perform  against  Eli  all  things 
which  I  have  spoken  concerning  his  house.  When  I  begin  I 
will  also  make  an  end.  For  I  have  told  him  that  I  will  judge 
his  house  forever  for  the  iniquity  which  he  knoweth  :  because 
his  sous  made  themselves  vile  and  he  restrained  them  not." 

It  must  be  well  remembered  by  you  all,  my  friends,  what 
were  the  sins  in  which  the  sons  of  Eli,  having  grown  up  with- 
out parental  discipline  and  in  insubordination,  were  prone  to 
indulge,  in  the  season  of  youthful  ardor.  They  were  sins  which 
almost  alwavs  are  engrafted  upon  the  stock  of  insubordinate 
and  indulged  childhood.  Sins  of  the  table  and  the  cup.  Lux- 
uriously feeding  the  body  to  the  inflaming  of  the  passions ; 
whence  ensues  debauchery  and  the  irregularities  that  have  al- 
ways characterized  the  people  who  have  been  ruined,  in  all 
ages,  by  luxury. 

Be  assured,  where  the  proper  early  parental  authority  is 
lacking,  and  subordination,  in  tlie  first  openings  of  the  mind 
has  not  been  learnt,  the  restraints  necessary  to  good  citizen- 
ship, the  proper  curbing  of  the  passions,  will  always  be  wanting 
too  in  after  life.  A  random  habit  of  living  will  ensue.  In 
the  early  parental  authority  enforced  is  the  germ  of  every 
virtue  which  can  adorn  the  man  ;  and  in  the  lack  of  it  is  the 
germ  of  every  evil  under  which  society  groans.  In  the  very 
earliest  years  of  man,  before  the  schoolroom  even  has  been  ever 
known,  is  the  seedtime  of  a  futiii  c  liarvest  ;  often  a  harvest  of 
civil  and  political  degeneracy,  tlic  gathering  in  of  which  shall 
wring  the  heart  of  the  hoary  sage,  once  the  too  indulgent  fa- 
ther, when  he  shall  weep  in  secret  over,  not  only  his  family's, 
but  his  country's  desolation.  That  father,  who,  from  a  multi- 
plicity of  extraneous  cares,  from  indolence,  from  a  mistaken 


tenderness,  or  from  any  cause,  shrinks  from  the  pains  and  dis- 
comforts of  subduing  the  self-will  and  obstinacy  of  an  insubor- 
dinate child,  little  knows  the  amount  of  penalty  which  he,  at 
length,  must  pay.  He  violates  a  law  of  nature  and  of  Heaven 
which  none  can  ever  do  with  impunity. 

Deem  me  not  arrogant,  parents  respected  and  beloved,  while 
I  warn  myself  and  you,  in  calling  into  special  notice  the  fact 
that  Eli  was  not  silent,  but  went  quite  as  far  as  many  now  do, 
who  affect  to  think  they  acquit  themselves.. when,  too  late,  he 
called  upon  his  youthful  sons — "Why  do  ye  such  things  ?— I 
hear  of  your  evil  doings  by  all  this  people — Do  not  so,  my  sons, 
for  it  is  no  good  report  that  I  hear  ?" — Such  the  tone  and  ad- 
monition which  he  long  and  perseveringly  used  to  them,  in 
all  their  early  youth.  But  mark  ye — God  declares  that  he 
did  not  restrain  his  children.  He  spared  to  enforce  his  own 
authority,  and  neglected  the  first  law  of  God  and  nature  :  this 
was  his  sin  ;  he  is  not  reproved  of  God  for  not  counselling,  ex- 
horting, reproving  or  rebuking  his  sons  ;  he  even  dealt  out 
profusely  his  censures  ;  but  his  duty  comprised  more,  much 
more,  and  for  his  neglect  of  this  duty,  his  house  and  his  poster- 
ity, for  centuries,  were  ruined.  Witness  the  dreadful  issue  : 
"  Wherefore  honorest  thou  thy  sons  above  me  ;  saith  God,"  to 
him.  That  is — why  not  obev  me  in  the  matter  of  family  disci- 
pline ?  "  Thou  shalt  see  an  enemy  in  thy  habitation  in  all  the 
wealth  which  God  shall  give  Israel.  I  Avill  cut  off  thine  arm 
(emblem  of  strength)  and  the  man  of  thine,  whom  I  shall  not 
cut  off  from  mine  altar,  shall  be  to  consume  thine  eyes  and  to 
grieve  tliine  heart,  and  this  shall  be  a  si^n  unto  thee  ;  thy  two 
soas  Haphui  and  Phinoas,  in  one  day  shall  both  of  tliem  die." 
Now  bsliild  th3  dreidfal  fiilfillin^iit  ;  alas  Gad  mide  good  his 
word.  The  arm  of  strength  in  Eli's  family  was  cut  off  ;  that 
lineal  Priesthood  fell  into  a  decline,  until  it  became  quite  ex- 
tinct. When  the  Philistines  triumphed  over  Israel,  both  Haph- 
ni  and  Phineas  were  slain,  the  other  two  sons  of  Eli  lived 
only  a  few  years  after,  and  it  is  said,  the  Jews  have  a  record 
that  for  many  successive  ages  the  curse  rested  on  Eli's  line.  At 
one  pei'iod,  in  the  family  of  his  desendants,  in  the  male  issue  no 


one  lived  beyond  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  Zadok  became 
the  successful  rival  over  Abiatha  the  descendaut  of  Eliand  the 
High  Priesthood  was  of  Zadok's  lineage,  down  to  the  four  hun- 
dredth year  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  Eli's  calami- 
ties were  tremendous.  At  length  he  lost  the  Ark  in  battle 
with  the  Philistines,  and  the  wife  of  Phineas  died  of  trouble, 
and  in  her  expiring  agonies  bade  them  name  the  little  one,  to 
whom  she  had  just  given  birth,  Ichabod,  "  Name  the  child 
Ichabod,"  said  she,*"  for  the  glory  is  departed  from  Israel,"  and 
the  ill-fated  father  himself  too,  finally  died  by  violence.  Thus 
the  tragical  illustration  of  God's  displeasure,  for  lack  of  family 
discipline,  of  family  government. 

Many  make  a  very  inadequate  estimate  of  the  guilt  con- 
tracted or  incurred  by  a  neglect  of  parental  authority.  They 
shrink  from  the  present  ungrateful  task,  and  much  as  possible, 
keep  the  ultimate  disastrous  result  out  of  view.  They  love 
their  oft'spring,  but  love  them,  alas,  too  well  to  administer  a 
chastening  more  important  to  them,  and  more  necessary  to 
their  future  wellbeing  than  anything  else  in  this  or  any  world; 
and  some  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  assume  that  the  child 
must  be  indulged  at  any  cost,  at  least  until  its  tender  age  shall 
have  grown  so  strong,  that  at  any  rate,  parent  or  no  parent, 
he  will  not  be  denied  nor  curbed  nor  thwarted  ;  and  then  a  life 
of  wrt^tchedncss  on  earth  is  well  secured,  or  an  early  and  trag- 
ical, if  not  infamous  death  shall  blast  the  hopes  of  a  too  fond 
and  doting  and  misjudging  parent,  and  bring  his  gray  hairs 
down  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  All  ye  who  hear  me,  be  ad- 
monished. No  skill  is  adequate  to  remedy  the  evils  which  your 
neglect  or  indulgence  may  entail.  In  the  economy  of  God, 
your  child  is  born  to  you  the  most  helpless  of  all  the  living  beings 
in  this  world.  Tiie  young  of  no  living  animal  is  so  helpless  as 
the  infant  lord  of  this  fair  creation.  Why  is  this  so,  unless  it 
be  that  the  germ  of  intelligence  may  be  capable  of  being  di- 
rected and  bent  and  moulded  by  the  parent?  When  first 
the  enchanting  smile  appears  upon  those  sweet  features,  ren- 
dered sacred  l»y  the  kiss  of  an  enraptured,  doting  mother,  that 
mother  is  delighted  to  discover   in  her  infant  a  recognition  of 


9 

her  caress.     You  have  seen  the   inexpressible  emotion  which 
shone  through  the  glistening  tears  of  that  mother.     There  lay 
then  upon  her  lap  an  immortal  being,  helpless,  subject  entire- 
ly to  her  will.   Its  destiny,  for  weal  or  wo,  in  her  hands.  Could 
she  maim  its  person  ?     So  she  could,  in  like  manner  maim  or 
disable  its  spirit.     Could  she  break  or  distort  its  limbs?      So 
she  could  its  affections  and  mental  emotions.     Could  she  poi- 
son its  body  and  render  that  body  a  lump  of  disease  and  suffer, 
ing  ?     So  she  could,  in  like  manner  and  in  equal  degree,  its 
soul,  its  thinking  faculties,  and  doom  it  to  mental  disquietude 
and  discontent  while  natural  life  remains.     She  and  the  father ,- 
her  partner  in  parental  responsibility,  have  the  mind  and  affec- 
tions ;  its  tastes  ;  its  likes  and  dislikes  ;   its  will  ;  its  habits  of 
thinking  as  well  as  acting  in  their  power,  to  form,  to  mould,  to 
direct,  to  ^cultivate,    I    had   almost  said,   to   create.      How 
much  has  cultivation    sometimes  done  to  improve  the  person 
from    infancy    in   looks,  in   graceful   motion,  in   all  which   is 
commonly  termed  good  manners  and  propriety  of  action  !  How 
much  more  has  also  sometimes  been  done  to  render  correct  and 
agreeable  the  thinking  and   spiritual  part  to  which  the  actions 
of  the  body  are  so  subservient ;  nay,  of  which  the  movements 
of  the  body  serve  rather  as  an  index.     As  I  said  in  the  begiu- 
ing,  so  now  I  say  again,  few,  few  indeed  the  weeks  that  intervene 
between  the  first  smile  of  recognition,  that  first  understanding 
of  a  parent's  tone  of  caress,  and  the   ability  to  recognise  the 
look,  the  tone  of  authority  and  reproof ;  and   would   to    God 
every  parent  were  as  eager  and  interested  to  discern  the  latter 
capability  as  tlie  former  ;  to  take  due  advantage  of  it  to  estab- 
lish the  necessary,  the  natural    authority,  the   right   inherent 
which  God  Almighty  has  bestowed,  and   will  denumd  an    ac- 
count of  it,  as   he  will  of  our  every   other   talent  ;  but,  alas  ! 
alas !    it  is  not  so  ;    that   talent   lies  buried   and   neglected 
often,  until  it  is  quite  lost  and  ruined,  and   by-and-by-,  when, 
by  the  supineness  or  neglect  of  the  parent,  or  througli  a  false 
love,   an  animal,    not    rational   affection   and   indulguce,   at 
length  an  enemy  has  sown  tares  in   the  heart  once  so  tender 
and  susceptible,  which  have  germinated  and  grown  a  self-will 


10 

an  insubordinate  spirit ;  the  parent  at  times  begins  to  weep 
and  be  sad,  to  fret,  to  be  almost  angr}-.     "  Oh  !  I  have  an  undu- 
tiful  child  !  of  a  violent  and  willful  temper  self-willed,  he  will 
break  my  heart  I  fear,  and  brim?  me  down  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave  !"    Yes,  he  will  I  assure  yon,  he  will  make  your  heart 
ache  *    He  will  plough  deep  furrows  of  care  in  your  cheeks, 
whicli  once  were  lighted  up  Avith  a  glow  of  such  delight,  when 
you  first  caught  his   infant  smile  ;  he  Avill  largely  supply  the 
place  of  those  sweet  tears,  which  fell  from  your  glistening  eyes 
upon  his  smiling  infant  face  ;  he  will  supply  their  place  for  you 
with  tears,  which  will  burn,  as  they  trickle   down  your   care- 
worn cheeks,  I'ke  molten  lead.    Had  you  watched  the  precious 
moments,  and  judiciously  seized   upon  the  golden  period,  and 
fixed,  when  you  might  most  easily  in  the  infant  mind  subordin- 
ation to  your  rightful,  natural  and  inherent  authority  ;   in  do- 
ing so  you  would  have  secured  for  yourself  a  treasure  second  to 
none  save  the   treasure  in  the  heavens.    You  would  also  have 
fixed  in  your  child  till  death  an  equanimity  of  mind,  a  liabit  of 
being   happy  because  subordinate  to  you  so  lonar  as  your   au- 
thority over  him  was  legitimate  ;  subordinate  to  his  teacher  at 
school,  because  he  has  never  known  insubordination  at  home; 
subordinate  to    the   civil   authorithy.   because  he  has   never 
known  insubordination  at  school,  nor  in  the  family  ;  subordin- 
ate to  destiny  I)eeause  he  has  uever  known.  In-  any  experience, 
insubordination  in  society,  in  school  and  in  the   family.     The 
work,  whicii  Heaven  declared  so  hard,  that  kickinn-  against  the 
pricks,  may  all,  by  your  fidelity,  be  spared  to  your   offspring. 
If  you  will  begin  thus  early,  God  has  placed  it  in  your  power 
so   render   your    children  in  a  large   degree  happy,      1  am 
tnre  it  is   so — for  1  have  seen   the   experiment  tried.     1   am 
drawing  no  picture  of  imagination,      God  has  never  doomed 
either  you  or  m(.' to  bo  the  ill-faled  parent  of  an  undutiful,  peev- 
ish, fretful  and  ill-*('Mii)ered  cliihl.     If  our  ollspring  be  such, 
it  is  our  own  fault.     We  may  render  them,  if  we  will,  quiet  and 
peaceful  in  their  own  lu-easts  ;  in  the  family,  in  tiie  school,  and 
in  the  community,  uniform  in  their  habits  of  feeling,  almost  as 
*See  Appendix  A. 


11 

uniform  as  the  sun  in  its  course.  But  we  must  becrin  early  to 
do  it  ;  and  we  must  make  tlioroug-li  work  thus  early.  We 
must  act  with  discretion,  but  we  must  not  spare  our  feelings. 
If  it  be  necessary  we  must  chasten  ;  perhaps  chastise.  Ijut  we 
must  do  it  at  a  period  when  a  straw  for  the  rod  will  be  eflfec- 
tual  as  the  raw-hide  lash  could  be  at  a  later  period  in  life,  and 
even  mere  so.  What !  I  think  I  hear  some  fond  mother  or 
some  indulgent  father  say — what!  assume  the  tone  and  attitude 
of  rebuke,  or  authoritative  reproof  towards  a  little  child,  less 
than  three  years  old.*  Many  shrink  back  with  a])parent  hor- 
ror at  the  bare  suggestion  that  the  rod  should  ever  make 
a  part  of  nursery  furniture.  I  fall  back  upon  the  text — and  is 
not  that  enough  ?  But  more — Is  not  God  our  Father  ?  Is  he 
not  a  wise  and  discreet  parent?  And  do  you  lack  demonstra- 
tions of  His  tender  love?  Does  He  not  use  the  rod  for  chas- 
tisement ?  "  What  son  is  he  whom  that  Father  chasteneth  not  ?" 
Did  he  never  chastise  should  we  ever  be  "  partakers  of  his  ho- 
liness?" No.  He  does  chastise.  We  have  often  felt  the  rod  ; 
and  let  me  asssure  you,  parent,  unless  you  profit  by  it,  unless 
you  learn  subordination  to  His  high  behest,  and  ride  well  your 
offspring,  teach  them  well,  above  all  things  teach  them  subor- 
dination, teach  them  it  by  stern  chastisement,  early  chastisement 
if  necessary  ;  unless  you  do  this,  they  will  become,  in  life's  de- 
cline, to  you  a  rod,  in  your  Almighty  Father's  hand,  to  lash 
you  very  severely.  Better,  far  better  occasion  them  some  tears, 
some  infant  tears,  for  which  they  will  always  kiss  your  hand, 
which  did  wield  the  rod  and  tliank  you  all  their  lives.  Better, 
far  better  than  weep  those  tears  yourself,  when  floods  of  weep- 
ing can  avail  nothing  for  yourselves  or  them. 

Throughout  all  a  long  experience  and  observation  in  Com- 
mon and  Academic  Schools,  two  facts  have  uniformly  been 
apparent.  I  have  never  known  a  pnpil  insubordinate  and 
refractory  who  had  been  thoroughly  taught  subordination  to 
parental  authority.  And  I  have  always  remarked  that  the 
children  who  most  respect  parental  authority,  uniformly  are 
most  affectionate  towards  both  parents  and  teachers.  Thorough 

*See  Appendix  B. 


12 

parental  discipline  lavs  the  foundation  of  character  for  useful- 
ness and  distinction  in  life.  The  ciiild,  wayward  and  perverse, 
who  has  never  been  taught  subordination  to  a  parent's  behest, 
be  his  other  advantages  what  they  may,  has  had  no  adequate 
preparation  of  character  for  usefulness  in  life.  It  is  a  truth,  a 
maxim  incontrovertible,  which  no  well-informed  man  can  gain- 
say or  controvert,  that  the  foundation  of  character  must  be 
laid  in  family  discipline.  Every  rule  may  admit  of  exceptions, 
but  this  Las  as  few  as  any  oll.cr,  that  he  who  has  not  leamt  the 
lesson  of  implicit  subjection  to  his  parent,  or  to  some  one  ac- 
ting in  that  responsible  capacity,  lacks,  totally  lacks  the  foun- 
dation necessary  to  a  useful  and  prosperous  life.  He  will  go 
stumbling  along  down  to  the  grave.  He  may  blunder  into  a 
fortune — or  wandering  honors,  di-iven  of  uncertain  winds  may 
settle  on  his  brow.  But  he  will  find  himself  ill-fitted  to  use 
the  one  or  to  wear  the  other  ;  and  instead  of  adding  value  and 
lustre  to  such  t!;ings,  they  will  have  to  impart  largely  to  him  ; 
so  that  they  will  all,  in  the  end.  be  the  worse  for  having  fallen 
to  his  lot.  He  may  receive  them  bright  and  comely,  but  he 
will  leave  them  lean,  meagre  and  depreciated.  He  comes  up 
into  life  a  misguided  and  ill-fated  man,  yielding  obedience  of- 
ten, nay  always,  to  passion,  ill-humor  or  inclination,  rather 
than  to  calm  reason  or  sober  judgment.  Often  the  fire  of 
youth  consumes  his  energies  or  burns  down  his  constitution. 
Disappointment  begets  for  him  sloth  and  supineness,  or  fretful 
and  struggling  disccntent,  which  corrodes  his  temper  and  the 
domestic  circle  of  his  manhood,  and  old  age  is  anything  but 
peaceful.  His  children  are  the  unhappy  and  ill-fated  victims 
of  an  unreasonable  aud  churlish  rule,  well  calculated  to  render 
them  worse  than  their  father,  in  their  generation,  degenerated 
and  degenerating  ;  and  thus  a  people  made  up  of  families,  lost 
and  being  lost  to  domestic  discipline,  must  decline  and  de- 
generate, be  their  commercial  and  other  advantages  what  they 
may — must  at  length  fall  into  anarchy  and  misrule  ;  and  igno- 
miny and  ruin  ensue.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  let  family  or- 
der and  domestic  discipline   be  scrupulously   aud   diligently 


13 

cultivated  and  maintainod,  and  lianded  down,  improved   and 
improving;,   entire,  from   generation   to   generation,   and   my 
word  for  it,  a   prosperous  and  strong  nation,  a  well-oidered 
commonwealth  will  be  established,  like  a  house  with  a  founda- 
tion deeply  laid  upon  a  rock. 

A  lack  of  family  discipline  operates  upon  the  body  politic 
not  much  unlike  drunkenness  and  licentiousness  upon  tlie  do- 
mestic welfare.  The  latter,  we  well  know,  ever  neutralize  all 
other  influences,  and  render  abortive  all  other  causes  combined 
to  create  a  prosperous  and  happy  domestic  circle.  So  the  for- 
mer, viz  :  a  lack  of  family  discipline  will  most  surely,  although 
slowly  minish  and  nring  low  any  nation  or  people.  It  sows  the 
seeds  of  anarchy  and  misrule  and  insubordination  everywhere. 
In  a  republic  it  will  generate  a  self-will  and  self-exaggeration  in 
the  minority  to  defy  the  majority  and  not  to  submit  to  the  pow- 
ers that  be,  which,  as  they  are  legitimately  constituted,  are  or- 
dained of  God — until  union  and  co-operation  of  States  and  in- 
terests, so  necessary  to  the  very  existence  of  a  Republic,  is 
denounced  or  repudiated,  and  the  compact  dissolved  by  vio- 
lence. Parents  !  It  is  m  your  jamilies  and  around  the  domes- 
tic hearth,  chiefly  that  you  are  to  contribute  to  the  maintenance 
and  perpetuity  of  our  political  institutions  and  civil  compact. 
Let  your  children  grow  up  insubordinate  to  your  authority, 
and,  if  otliers  do  the  same,  in  three  generations,  nay,  less  than 
that — the  child  may  he  already  born,  who  shall  Avritc  tlie  history 
of  tlie  United  States  of  America  from  beginning  to  end.  Jil- 
ready  the  philanthropist  cannot  fail  to  discover  signs  of  insubordina- 
tion very  portentous* 

I  have  little  hope  of  any  great  political  reform  or  improve- 
ment until  God  shall  raise  up  some  master  spirit  capable  of 
moving  the  public  mind  on  this  most  important  of  all  subjects, 
family  discipline. f  Our  system  of  Public  Schools  in  New 
England,  New  York  and  S3me  other  States,  is  grand  and  highly 
beneficial.  It  has  done  and  is  doing  wonders.  I  would  rather 
be  Horace  Mann,  late  lamented  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation in  Massachusetts,  than  to  be  President   of  the  United 

*See  Appendix  E. 
t  See  appendix  D. 


14 

States  of  America.  The  Common  School  system  and  the  won- 
ders it  has  wrought  and  is  destined  to  work  are  immensely 
above  my  ability  to  eulogize  them.  I  will  not  attempt  what 
is  so  much  beyond  my  power.  But  I  do  aspire  to  do  some- 
thing, to  aid  them,  to  bring  a  little  straw,  brick  or  morter  to 
aid  in  erecting  the  mighty  temple  which  may  in  after  ages,  be 
the  wonder  of  the  Avorld.  It  is  not  to  the  present  rich  and 
great — the  upper  ranks  of  society,  as  they  are  called,  that  we 
are  to  look  for  reform  and  practical  improvement  in  this  mat- 
ter. In  two  or  three  generations  at  most,  they  will  have  sunk 
into  obscurity,  and  the  influence  will  have  passed  into  other 
hands.  Out  of  the  present  mass  of  the  people,  now  laboring 
class,  who  get  their  bread  by  daily  toil,  are  to  come  the  men 
and  women  who  shall  sway  the  goverment  and  wield  the  des- 
tiny of  our  nation.  And  if  these  shall  not  have  learned  that  sub- 
ordination which  can  be  taught  only  in  the  nursery,  and  at  the 
parental  fireside,  wo  to  our  nation  !  Wo  to  ()ur  future  destiny  ! 
Who,  let  me  ask,  was  the  grandfather  of  John  Quincy  Adams  ? 
A  hard-working  shoemaker,  who  got  his  living  and  the  bread 
for  his  family  with  his  thread  and  awl.  Who  was  the  Father 
of  the  best  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  longest  kept 
in  office  during  the  last  half  century  ?  A  poor  but  industrious 
hatter.  And  I  might  go  on  in  enquiries  of  this  kind  till  to- 
morrow evening.  Wealth  enervates  and  causes  the  progeny 
of  the  rich  to  degenerate  and  sink  downward  in  influence; 
while  hard  and  industrious  labor  strengthens  both  body  and 
mind,  promotes  enterprise  and  energy,  accustoms  to  grapple 
with  and  overcome  difficulties,  and  thus  men  rise,  acquire 
mental  superiority  and  intellectual  energy,  attain  wealth, 
attain  influence  ;  become  capable  of  wielding  the  sceptre, 
of  manairing  the  helm  of  government,  and  are  at  length 
obliged  to  assume  that  helm.  Thou  industrious  farmer,  thou 
diligent  tradesman,  you  little  know  to  what  important  posts 
in  society  your  cliildren  or  your  grandeliildron  may  be  des- 
tined. Perchance  you  may  one  day  be  permitted  to  look  down 
from  the  high  battlements  of  glory  eternal,  and  see  that  son 
who  now  sits  a  small  lad  by  your  side,  or  that  infant  which, 


15 

on  your  return  home  this  evening,  you  ■will  take  up  from  its 
cradle  into  the  arms  of  your  affectionate  caress,  charged  with 
the  awful  responsibilities  of  a  nation's  destiny  or  wearing  the 
ermine  of  Judiciary  power — or,  guiding  by  his  eloquence,  the 
decisions  of  a  nation's  Legislature.  Who  thought  of  anything 
great  and  responsible  in  the  future  career  of  an  unpromising 
and  insignificant  farmer's  boy,  who  "was  entered  by  his  pool' 
and  industrious  father  at  the  Exeter  Phillips  Academy,  upon 
the  charity  foundation,  which  boy's  head  and  face  were  fre- 
quently kindly  washed  and  combed,  for  decency's  sake,  by  the 
yenerable,  paternal  chief  of  that  Institution,  before  he  could  be 
taught  to  do  those  offices  for  himself.  That  boy,  then  so  un- 
promising, afterwards  became  no  less  a  man  than  Daniel  Web- 
ster, the  wonder  and  admiration  of  a  civilized  world  ;  whom, 
when  in  Europe,  crowned  heads  and  sovereigns  were  eager  and 
proud  to  honor  and  caress.* 

My  auditors— parents,  respected  and  privileged — rule  well 
your  offspriiis:.  if  you  would  have  future  generations  rise  up 
to  call  you  blessed.  Neglect  thoroughly  to  teach  them  subor- 
dination to  your  authority  and  they  will  never  themselves  re- 
spect your  memory  ;  and  future  generations,  if  they  remember 
you  at  all,  will  disdain  you,  if  they  do  not  curse  your  memory. 
God  will  chastise  you  as  he  did  Eli  of  old,  and  your  house  and 
your  posterity  will  be  doomed  to  ignominy.  Your  memory  will 
never  be  hallowed  in  the  breasts  of  your  descendants,  and  you 
will  look  down  on  this  world,  if  spirits  departed  can  look 
back,  to  lament  the  day  when  it  was  announced  that  to  you 
a  son  or  daughter  was  born.  Mothers,  take  warning,  if  you 
would  not  have  the  future  surcharged  with  the  griefs  and  an- 
guish of  a  mother's  broken  heart.  With  unending  regrets, 
with  pains  so  great,  that  what  you  suffered  for  them  in  early 
infancy,  shall  be  as  nothing.  Young  parents,  whose  infant 
offsprings  are  yet  in  your  arris,  your  career  is  all  before  you. 
Our  day  is  gone.  With  you  it  is  not  too  late.  You  can  form 
and  fashion  your  own  destiny,  so  far  as  children  can  effect  it, 
as  you  will.    You  may  so  discipline  them  that  they  shall  never 

*See  Appendix  C. 


16 

give  you  grief ;  but  shall  make  your  declining  years  very 
pleasant ;  shall  hand  you  so  gently  down  life's  last  declivity 
that  you  may  hardly  perceive  its  descent.  For  tlicm  you  may 
enjoy  a  gilded  setting  sun,  or  at  least  one  wliich  sliall  spread  a 
golden  tinge  on  every  cloud  around.  Be  admonished  that  if 
they  in  infancy  scrupulously  respect  your  authority,  they  will, 
all  your  life  long,  be  tender  of  your  happiness.  If  they  early 
learn  to  follow  the  dictates  of  their  own  will,  rather  than 
yours,  they  will  find  little  delight,  at  any  time,  in  rendering 
you  happy  ;  but  will,  like  the  brute,  in  the  craving  of  their 
own  desires,  become  absorbed  and  neglect,  if  not  abuse  you,  in 
the  grey  evening  of  your  life.  Be  once  more  admonished  ;  and 
let  reflection  possess  you,  while  you  look  down  the  career  be- 
fore you,  through  that  late  old  age,  which  you  hope  to  live  and 
experience.  It  will  bring  its  inconveniences.  The  tottering 
step  ;  the  voice  enfeebled  ;  the  whole  body  stooping  ;  bowed 
down  beneath  a  weigiit  of  infirmities  ;  and  will  you  now  take 
the  precaution  to  provide  for  yourselves  a  solace  and  support  ? 
Or  will  you,  by  present  neglect,  add  to  all  other  inconvenien- 
ces of  old  age,  a  broken  heart  and  a  pillow  filled  with  thorns 
on  which  to  die  ? 

As  I  look  around  on  this  assembly  and  behold  so  numerous 
a  gathering  of  young  persons,  I  cannot  persuade  myself  to 
forego  the  privilege  of  so  far  deviating  from  the  legitimate 
theme  of  this  discourse  as  to  offer  a  few  suggestions  for  their 
edification.  The  transition  from  the  subject  of  family  disci- 
pline to  that  of  the  fealty  due  to  our  Heavenly  Parent  is  cer- 
tainly very  natural.  If  (rod  be  so  explicit  on  the  subject  of 
ruling  well  one's  own  household,  it  is  but  natural  to  infer  that 
He  claims  a  pious  d3li3itio:i  of  our  eirly  life  to  his  honor  and 
glory.  Had  He  not  told  us  so,  we  could  not  but  infer  t'lat  He 
must  exact  from  us  all,  very  early  the  demeanor  of  dutiful  chil- 
dren towards  Himself.  He  is  perfect  in  wisdom  ;  almighty  in 
power,  and  omniscient,  seeing  the  end  from  the  begining  ;  and* 
our  own  experience  has  ten  thousand  times  attested  that  His 
love  towards  us  all,  as  far  transcends  that  of  any  earthly  pa- 
rent as  the  Heavens  are  high  above  the  earth.     And  while  He 


17 

has  promnlgcd  His  own  behest,     "  ITonor  thy  father  and  thy 
moth.cr,"  with  a  glorious  promise  annexed,  he  has  also  pro- 
claimed that  "  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom." 
With  all  this  before  His   eyes,  how  sorry  a  figure   must  that 
young  person  exhibit  to  all  celestial  intelligences,  and  to  God, 
who  deems  it  mean-spirited  to  manifest  religious  reverence  and 
fea.  to  sin  against  God  !     How  harsh,  discordant  and  offensive 
must  sound  in   the  ear   of  spotless  purity,  those  obscene  and 
filthy  jestings,  in  which  giddy  and  thoughtless  young  persons 
so  often  indulge!  What  a  loathsome  object  to  Him,  ''  to  whom 
all  hearts  are  open,  all  desires  known   and  from  whom  no  se- 
crets are  hid,"  must  be  that  youthful  heart,  in  which  are  cher- 
ished lewd  and  lascivious  thoughts  and  designs  and  desires  ; 
and  as  out  of  the  abundance  of  t'le  heart  the  mouth  speaketh 
what  a  stench  must  go  up  from  the  heart  which  pours  forth 
over  tiie  tongue  indecent  language  to  amuse  and  corrupt  ;  in- 
fecting the  very  atmosphere  one  breathes  in,  and  poisoning  his 
fellows  for  this  world  and  the  next.     What  a  dreadful  mistake 
young  persons  make,  who  decline  to  dedicate  themselvs  to  God, 
in  the  way  of  His  appointment  and  habitually  turn  their  backs 
upon  the  ordinances  of  God's  most  holy  religion.     They   de. 
cline  the  best,  the  only  safeguard  in  the  world.     It  is  the  great 
God,   our    Maker,  Preserver   and     constant   Benefactor,   our 
Heavenly  Father,  who  makes  to  all  youths  the  great  proclama- 
tion  "  I  love  them  who  love  me,  and  they  who  seek  me  early 
shall  find  me."  "Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy 
youth."     0,  my  young  friends  !  unpopular  as  is  the  religion  of 
Jesus  among  you,  and  of  low  repute  in  your  estimation,  in  that 
better  world,  where  good  men  go  when  they  die  ;  where   God 
yoir  P.it'i3r,  t'i3  SiviouL'  w^d  rebe.nslyou,  now  are,  where 
your   pious   parents  and    ancestors  deceased   are    with   them 
there,  in  that  high  abode,   whither   you  must  go  if  ever  you 
shall  find  unalloyed  happiness — "  Piety  in  youth  is  sweeter  than 
the  incense  of  Persia,  more    delicious  than   odors  wafted   by 
western  gales  from  a  field  of  Arabian  spices."     While  impiety, 
neglect  of  parental  honor,  neglect  of  God  and  reckless  indif- 
ference to  spiritual  things  must  be  most  offensive.     But  I  for- 


18 

bear.  Ingenuous  and  young  as  you  now  are,  why  should  not 
the  claims  of  parental  indulgence  and  tenderness  on  the  part 
of  God  reach  your  hearts?  You  covet  the  good  opinion  of 
those  with  whom  you  associate.  Why  will  you  be  indifferent 
to  the  good  opinion  of  God,  your  Heavenly  Father  and 
Friend,  who  stands  ready  and  eager  to  bless  you  with  all  His 
blessings  ;  whose  eye  is  never  turned  off  from  you  from  the 
time  you  begin  to  live  until  you  die  ;  and  whose  smile  of  love 
lights  i-p  all  the  bliss  of  Heaven  ? 

My  young  friends,  there  is  prevalent  a  great  error  in  regard 
to  a  pious  reverence  towards  God  and  His  great  ordinances. 
A  spirit  of  evil  appears  to  have  infused  into  the  youthful  mind 
a  false  estimate  of  the  position  we  are  made  to  occupy  on  the 
earth.     I  allude  to  the  idea  that  it  is  manly  to  exhibit  a  cold 
indifference  to  the  externals  of  religion  ;  to  prostitute  the  no- 
ble faculties  God  has  given  us  to  very  ignoble  use.     In  view 
of  this  state  of  things,  an  involuntary  impulse  seems  to  cry  : 
"  Run  and  speak  to  those  young  men,  and  bid  them  be  brave, 
be  bold,  be  independent,  be  heroic  too,  and  show  those   noble 
traits  in  daring  to  be  singular,  preeminent  in  reverence  and 
propriety  ;  make  it  manifest  that  you  are  incapable  of  but  one 
fear,  the  fear  to  offend  your    God  ;  make  it  manifest  that  you 
can  defy  all  the  world,  but  must  revere  the  Most  High  and  His 
Ordinances.     In  short,  make  it  manifest  that  you  have  courage 
enough,  in  the  face  of  an  ungodly  world,  to  cultivate  a  pious 
reverence  for  all  things  sacred  and  holy.     If  others  profane 
holy  time,  let  it  be  seen  that  you  respect  yourself  too  much  to 
follow  tlie  multitude  to  do  evil  ;  that  you  are  too  independent 
to  float  with  tlie  filthy  current  down  to  hell  :  that  your  aim  is 
upward.     Conscious  of  superior  endowments,  such  as  are  capa- 
ble of  rising  above  all    low,  groveling  and  animal  propensities, 
let  it  be  seen  that  you  mean  to  bask  in  the  pure  element  of  ra- 
tional, moral  and    religious  purity  ;  that  you  mean,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  assimilate  yourself  to  God  ;  that  you  will  regard 
as  degrading,  and  will  set  your  face,  as  a  flint,  against  all  ir- 
reverence and  impiety.     That  you  will  never  encourage,  with 


a  smile  even,  but  w  ill  frown  down  liiat  misguided  youth  who 
aims  no  hiiihci*  than  to  let  it  Ijo  seen  that  he  can  glory  in  his 
ow'n  shame,  unblushitiuly  eommit  sin  and  impiety.  Take 
that  nol)le.  iji(U'])on(h'nt  stand  as  the  ehamjiion  of  goodness  and 
of  pious  reverence,  whieh  will  assimilate  you  to  the  angels. 
Shew  your  fellows  that  you  can  1)0  merry,  l)ut  not  at  the  ex- 
pense of  innocence  ;  that  you  can  enjoy  a  laugh,  hut  cannot 
licedlessly  trifle  with  things  that  (Jod  has  made  holy  ;  that  on 
serious  subjects  you  Avill  be  serious  .  in  the  presence  of  your 
superiors,  you  will  l)e  circumspect  and  modest,  and  in  the  im- 
mediate i)resence  of  God,  you  will  Ijc  grave  and  reflect  that 
you  will  prudently  regard  times  and  seasons.  Folly  can  1)C 
reckless  and  fool-hardy.  'I'o  Ije  profane  requires  little  of  tal- 
ent or  intellect,  and  the  veriest  coward  and  shalloAV -brained, 
often,  generally,  has  Ihc  noisiest  and  filthiest  tongue.  Let  all 
your  fellows  know  full  well  that  you  can,  for  pastime,  wander 
over  the  fields,  to  enjoy  refreshing  breezes  and  the  scenes  of 
nature,  but  not  on  Sunday,  that  day  made  sacred  oi"  Clod  to 
])ublic,  domestic  and  private  homage  :  that  you  can  be  gay 
and  meriy,  but  on  Sunday  you  must  be  serious,  liccausi^  tliaL 
day  is  made  of  ( lod  for  sei-ious  Ijusiness,  serious  thoughts,  serious 
demeanor  ;  that  you  lielieve  (lod  meant  something  Ijy  the  com- 
mand "  l{em-eml)er  the  Sabbatli  day  to  keep  it  holy."  Tell  th(;m 
God  has  made  it  imperative  n})on  you  ""to  be  Ijaptized  in  tlio 
name  of  the  Father,  tlie  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,'"  and  publicly 
to  ratify  your  1>aptism.  to  entitle  you  to  a  j)lace  in  the  <.'ove- 
nant  fold  of  youi-  Redeemer  :  and  you  can  see  no  manliness  or 
independence  in  diso1)eyii\g  God.  It  ratlier  appears  to  you 
l»rutis]i  and  heartless  to  do  so.  l*oiui  rh(Mu  to  tlie  Holy  Com- 
munion Talde  ;  where  monthly  is  celel)rated,  according  to  His 
own  ajipointment,  a  Savior's  dying  love,  and  tell  them  that,  it 
ever  you  go  to  Heaven,  you  can  can  only  go  there  as  redeemed 
ones,  ransomed  from  the  jienaity  due  for  sin.  at  the  cxjiense  of 
this  same  Savior's  blood  ;  and  you  can  discover  notlilng  noble, 
nothing  to  evince  courage  (M-  inde]»eiideiu'e  of  <pirit,  in  the 
neglect  of  that  Holy  Saci-ament,  but  rather  the  reverse.  It  was 
instituted  to  supply  your  .>^pi)-itual  necessities,  just  as  were  the 


•Jo 

i»roducts  of  the  autumual  luirvo.^t.  iIh:  fruit.-^  of  you)-  industry, 
L-reatcd  to  meet  your  temporal  ^vant^.  If  it  hv  niauly  to  lead  a 
life  ofimlolenee  and  sloth  :  to  earn  nothing',  and  have  iiotiiina- 
wherewith  to  clothe  and  feed  the  hody.  then  it  is  manly  to  neg- 
lect and  slight  the  means  necessfiry  to  deeentlv  feed  and  clothe 
your  soul  forever  :  but  not  otherwise.  Let  the  Avorld  see,  ray ' 
young  friends,  that  you  mean  to  act  consistently  ;  to  have  and 
to  maintain  a  system  of  right  reason— that  you  mean  to  reason 
as  God  reasons — that,  as  a  dutiful  cliild.  you  were  taught  to  act 
as  your  parents  bade  you  act  :  so,  as  a  dutiful  child  of  God, 
you  mean  always  to  act  as  He  Indsyou  act  :  acknowledging 
liim  in  all  your  ways,  that  He  may  direct  your  steps. 

My  young  auditors,  I  have  only  time,  on  this  occasion,  to 
barely  glance  at  this  subject.  It  is  a  great  subject ;  embracing 
all  your  liappy  prospects  for  time  and  for  eternity.  An  inter- 
esting topic  :  to  parents  surely  interesting,  penetrating  every 
tenderest  fibre  of  the  father's  and  tlie  mother's  heart.  Not  any 
period  in  the  lii'e  of  children  so  aljsorbs  all  a  parent's  tender- 
ness and  anxiety  as  that  period,  when  they  arc  just  opening 
upon  manhood  ;  emerging  into  active  life  ;  receiving  the  im- 
press of  character  and  destiny.  0  !  how  many  a  hapless  pa- 
rent of  a  })rofanc  and  graceless  sou  or  daughter  we  have  known 
who  would  not  allow  themselves  to  believe,  although  they 
knew  their  child  to  1)e  thus  unpromising  and  ungodly  !  Such 
is  parental  love.  It  will  cheerfully  suifer  for  you,  forego  sweet 
sleep  and  every  pleasure.  Nay,  will  know  no  pleasure  till 
your  infant  pains  and  cries  are  soothed  and  quieted.  'Twill 
toil  a  cheerful  toil  to  feed  and  clothe  your  childhood. 
'Twill  consume  the  midnight  lamp  and  hardly  suiBfcr  one  day's 
task  to  end,  till  another  morning's  cares  and  toils  begin,  to 
gain  the  privilege  and  defray  the  cost  of  educating  and  culti- 
vating your  opening  minds.  'Twill  sacrifice  its  own  last  com- 
fort to  render  you  respectable  and  good  and  happy.  And  as 
you  spread  your  sail  and  launch  oft'  into  life,  'twill  follow  you 
with  long  and  eager  look,  and  then  set  itself  down  to  weep  and 
pray  for  you.  In  your  absence,  your  parent's  moistened,  sleep- 
less j)illow  will  greet  the   return  of  dajlight  ;  and  could  you 


21 

look  into  his  sleeping-  apartnuMit,  perchance  you  would  not  find 
him  there  :  but,  in  some  sequestered  retirement,  on  bended 
knee,  in  tears  and  prayer,that  He,  who  only  can,  would  protect 
and  prosper  you.  And  as  days  and  months  and  years  roll  on, 
tidings  come  of  you.  tliat  you  are  ill  requiting  a  parents  fond 
solicitude  ;  that  you  are  wanting  in  fidelity,  in  industry  or 
goodness  that  you  spend  your  days  in  idleness,  or  your  nights 
in  revelry  ;  that  you  have  learnt  to  profane,  or  use  irrever- 
ently the  Holy  Name  in  which  you  was  baptized  ;  that  your 
tonffue  and  of  course  your  heart  lias  become  foul  and  filthy — 
how  slow  to  Itelieve  and  how  sad  to  know  is  a  parent's  heart. 
But  when  tidings  come  of  you  that  you  are  true  to  yourself — 
true  to  your  parents,  true  to  your  God,  that  He  accordingly 
gives  you  .favor  in  the  esteem  of  men  ;  that  you  have  proved 
yourself  a  wise  son,  an  honor  to  all  who  ever  loved  you.  0  ! 
there  is  gladness  in  that  dwelling  then,  where  you  was  born 
and  nourished  ;  smiles  glisten  through  parental  tears  ;  the 
heart  rises  to  obstruct  the  utterance,  and  the  exclamation  of 
good  old  Jacob  must  express  it  all — "  It  is  enough."  My  young- 
friends — one  simple  request — will  you,  by  a  virtuous,  a  prudent 
and  religious  life  of  industry  and  self-circumspection,  make 
your  parents  happy,  be  happy  too  yourselves  and,  at  last,  unter- 
rified,  meet  your  God  in  smiles  of  love  ?  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant.'"  son  or  daughter,  "  enter  into  the  joy  of 
thv  Lord." 


*$7t5Bir5 


ap»pe:st)ix. 


A.  1  biivo  known  an  iutant.  who,  before  be  was  ten  montbs  old,  w  11  recog- 
nized parental  autboritj,  and  was  wont  to  iniplicitlj-  obey  and  never,  from  the 
age  above  named,  was  even  allowed  toery  in  liis  tatber"s  presence.  TJiat  child 
was  ever  nniformly  happy  ;  and  no  child  ever  more  ardently  loved  his  parents. 
That  child  is  now  a  man.  and  has  never  to  this  day,  been  known  to  adopt  :\ 
mea.snre  or  do  an  act.  which  he  even  snspected  might  not  meet  the  cordial  a])- 
probation  of  his  parents  :  and  liis  parents  now  bear  unequivocal  testimony  that 
lie  linds  liis  cliief  deliglil  iu  rendering  them  happv.  and  yet  he  has  ne\  er  be- 
trayed anv  lack  of  decision  of  character,  enterprise  or  moral  coir  age.  He  has 
prospered  in  tlie  world,  his  urbanity  of  conduct  luis  hitherto  disarmed  envy  and 
he  is  one  of  tliose  young  men  wliom  his  cotemporaries  ■■  delight  to  honor.*' 

B.  Walking  in  one  of  oar  most  fashionable  streets.  I  found  a  little  girl,  about 
three  years  old.  dres.sed  like  a  sylph,  and  sitting  at  play  witli  a  companicu 
upon  the  sidewalk:  at  a  distance,  the  front  door  of  the  house  of  one  of  our  •'  up- 
per ten,"'  opened  and  the  mother  of  that  little  angel  appeared  calling  ••  Minnie ! 
^finnie  !  I  come  here  .'.'  come  right  here  '.'.!  C',me  I  my — miixl  your  mother.  Minnie — come 
I  xayJo  me  .'.'"  The  mother  disappeared  ;  the  child  bad  risen,  and  had  run  a  few 
steps  towards  the  house  :  but.  as  the  door  closed,  she  returned  and  seated  hei'- 
self  again  with  her  little  playmaie;  having  apparently  already  learned  not 
only  to  disobey,  but  to  deceive  her  mother.  I  passed  on.  musing.  In  imagina- 
tion I  was  transported  forward  some  fifteen  years — I  saw  that  lovely  little  fallen 
angel  grown  to  womanhood,  beautiful  as  bad  l)een  her  mother  ;  but.  a  wayward 
headstrong  youth,  debauched  and  sunk  in  infamy.  And  I  beheld  that  mother 
too  :  the  beauty  on  her  lovely  face  had  given  place  to  the  hectic  flush  and  she 
had  laid  herself  down  to  die  of  a  broken  heart.  Her  daughter  bad  brought  her 
there.  Insubordinate  slje  Iiad  grown  np,  and  all  for  a  niotiier"s  indoleace,  or 
misjudg'^d  indulgence.  Infantile  pervei-seness  nourished,  bred  by  parental 
neglect,  liad  dom'  it  all. 

0.  Daniel  Webster,  the  lirsi.  and  1  believe  the  only  American  t^tatesman  ever 
lionoi'ed  witli  a  scat  ujion  tin-  ••  Woolsack."  in  Ijigland's  ••  House  of  Lords." 

L).  Would  to  (Jod  that  :-ome  Wendell  I'billips.  or  Henry  Ward  Beeebcr, 
would  eschew  the  subject  of  N'egro  slavei-y.  useless,  nay  hurtful  even  to  the 
slave  :  and  bring  bis  Websterian  power,  bis  ("iceronian  elocjnence  to  bear  on  the 
great  subject  of  Family  Government  throuhgrul  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of 
our  land  I  Generations  yet  unborn,  in  long  sucee.<sion.  would  then  rise  up  to 
call  iiim  blessed  :  and  a  nation's  gratitude  through  eirrling  ages^  would  perpet- 
uate his  mi'morv.  and  writ''  bis  epitaph  with  panMifal  tears  of  gladness  and 
delight. 

K.  Witness  the  scenes  enacted  a(  the  late  "  Charleston  Couvenlior."  and 
more  aggravating  still  those  disgraceful  scenes  in  Ctnigress.  at  the  organization 
of  tlie  session  of  18.")!)  -ISfiO.  What  is  to  save  our  Republic,  when  the  minority 
>ball  no  nioi-e  be  subordinate  to  the  majority  ".  A  Monareliy  alone  ran  save  ns 
fnjiD  Ibe  horrors  of  Anan-ny.  From  such  a  latastrophy  let  nie  be  hidden  in  the 
gra\  e. 


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L  009   508   314  3 

1 

UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACIl 


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